Susie Bright

Just took a little time and finished Susie Bright's How To Read/Write A Dirty Story. I don't want to be nasty, but with the direction that the Best American Erotica series has taken and the self-indulgence of Full Exposure, Susie has quickly catapulted herself from "I'll buy anything with her name on it" to "I'll wait for the reviews from people I trust." There are a few potentially interesting exercises, but for the most part this is yet another "how to write and get published" book, and the world does not need another one of those.

I'm curious to know where you think the most recent BAE's have gone astray, Dan, and not because I'm preparing to disagree with you, but because I want to compare notes. (And I promise not to be thin-skinned just because I have a story in the most recent one.)

I don't think I can codify it too closely except that I've just found that the recent ones have migrated to bookshelves far from my bedroom. In BAE 2000 I found a couple that squicked me 'cause of their death themes, in BAE 2001 I found that character development just wasn't terribly strong.

(Even though we don't share that particular kink, I did like the twist in yours...)

I think part of it is something that Mary Anne Mohanraj said in her journal when she was talking about editing Aqua Erotica, about trying to appeal to a mix of tastes. Perhaps the mix has grown to the point where from finding 2 or 3 in a compendium to finding one every other or so.

I'm kind of over the "mix of tastes", I'd rather editors pick a focus so I'd like more in a book.